Wingless Book Series (book 1) (6 page)

Ace walked out clean and his
hair damp. He toweled his head as he came toward me. I panicked
letting the
book fall to the floor. I
kicked it away from me with my foot. Ace didn’t seem to notice, he
sat down next to me; the smell of cologne filling my nose. He
smelled amazing and clean.

“
I thought we could get something
to eat, I’m starving.”

“
Okay,” I said, but was still
thinking about what I had just read.

“
Everything alright?” he asked,
looking a little puzzled.

“
Ace, are you okay?” I asked him,
touching his arm. “Do you need to talk about anything?” I sighed,
feeling him tense up.

“
Did I do something?”

“
No, you just seem like you have a
lot on your mind, and I want you to know you can talk to me. I’m a
good listener.”

“
I’m fine, I assure you,” he said,
eyeing me suspiciously.

“
What?” I asked him
nervously.

“
Where did this
come from?” He was silent, then leaned over, reaching under the
table and picking up the book
reached
under and picked up the book. I cringed. He was too
smart.

“
Oh, okay, I get it now. You think
I’m depressed or something.” He opened the book staring at the
pages. His faces calm no change in it that I noticed.

“
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have read
it. I-“

“
Don’t worry about it. You never
write out your thoughts or vent on paper? That’s all it was,
venting. I’m fine.” He tossed it on the floor and grabbed my hand,
pulling me off the couch. “Are we ready?”

“
Yeah of
course.” I smiled at him as he pulled me firmly along
behind him. He seemed excited to be going out; I
wasn’t sure what he had up his sleeve.

The drive seemed to take forever.
We chatted about everything. The only thing he never touched on was
his family or past. Mostly, I did all the talking, telling him what
I liked and what I didn’t, what my favorite music was, how I became
such a free spirit. All the need to know items. And I didn’t mind
speaking about myself at all.

He made me comfortable. He
listened without judging anything I said and every so often, he
would grin at me with a huge smile. He was almost amazing. I was
starting to truly
enjoy
this Ace: the fun, laidback, attentive one. He
wasn’t his mysterious self as we drove to wherever we were going.
He never said where exactly it was.

He finally parked the car in a
darkened parking lot. A small restaurant sat in the distance- a
place I didn’t remember seeing in all the years I lived in the
small town.

This time he opened my door. I
gave a goofy grin at his politeness. He took my hand helping me out
of the car, the wind blowing my hair. It was starting to get
chilly.

“
Shall we?” he asked me, letting
me go ahead of him. The doorman opened the door, greeting us
politely before we entered the restaurant.

Chapter 5

Mean it

“
I’m stuffed thank you so much,” I
said as we headed through the parking lot, the food was amazing and
his company was even better.

“
You’re the first girl I have met
that actually ate more than a salad.”

“
Oh really, how many girls have
you met?” I poked him in the side. He grabbed my arm to keep me
from poking him. “Are you ticklish?” I laughed, getting caught up
in the moment.

I got free poking, some more. Ace
jerked away, grabbing both my hands. This time he walked me
backwards to his truck and then released me with an amused
grin.

“
So this time I want you to tell
me about you on the way home.” I tapped my hands on his dashboard.
I was amped up after all the talk and getting to know him, when I
liked someone my mood lifted and my dark cloud always disappeared ,
it was just the same as with Vanessa.

“
Oh, were not going home,” he
said, turning into the neighborhood park.

I watched as we passed the sign
that said after dark no one should enter. Ace apparently did not
mind that we were trespassing, so I didn’t either. Most people
wouldn’t come to the park this late for fear of something dangerous
happening, vandals or thugs roaming around, but with Ace, I had no
fear.

We started walking along the bike
path, you could barely see anything, and it was sort of calming.
The only sound you heard was the crickets and the dogs barking in
the distance.

“
Okay, so tell me about your
family,” I said, watching our feet move in unison.

“
What about them?”

“
What are they like?”

“
Like a family. I guess it’s hard
to explain when you’re not really related.”

“
Oh, I’m sorry.”

“
It’s alright. You don’t know
unless you ask.” He slowed his walk and then found a spot in the
grass, throwing down a blanket he had been carrying.

He sat down, looking up at me. I
could barely make out his face in the soft light.

“
I can’t see you!” I yelled
jokingly, touching his face, my fingertips grazing the top of his
head.

“
Shush before you get us caught,”
he whispered, grabbing my arm and pulling me down.

I sat, pulling my knees up to my
chest.

“
Are you cold?”

“
A little, I just got this t-shirt
on. I didn’t know we were coming here.”

He pulled his pullover off handing
it to me in an instant, which left him in just his
t-shirt.

“
No more questions for me,
huh?”

I had tons of questions, but with
the answer from the last, I was afraid to ask anymore.

“
I’m not sure what to ask you, you
seem so close to the vest on certain things.”

“
Depends on who is asking, but ask
me anything I’ll be honest with you. You are honest with
me.”

“
How do you know I am?”

“
I know.”

“
You know, one can never know
everything.”

“
What if I was to say I could?” he
asked me, leaning back on the blanket.

I stared at his shadowy figure
with curiosity at his strange comment.

“
If you said you could, I would
tell you to play the lotto for me,” I laughed.

“
That’s not what you would want to
know.”

“
I really don’t know what I would
want to know.” I never had to ponder it, but now that I was, I
didn’t know what one person would want to know. Knowing some things
could ruin your life.

“
You think of
anything?”

“
I don’t think it’s worth knowing.
And I think you’re being a little strange,” I told him, lying back.
I stared up at the stars, hundreds of them sparkled
back.

“
Yeah, yeah,” he said, lying back
as well; he tucked his hands behind his head.

“
If you think you know everything,
tell me what I’m thinking right now,” I said as his hand brushed
mine. I didn’t flinch it was a calming touch.

“
You’re thinking you’re having a
good time, and what it would be like to kiss the hot guy next to
you,” he laughed, amused with his witty comment.

I rolled my eyes knowing I
was the only one who knew what I was honestly
thinking.

“
I am having a good time,” I said,
feeling a bit nervous. Now that he’d planted the idea in my head,
my body was starting to get rigid and awkward.

“
I’m having a good time too;
honestly, I love your company,” he said.

I felt his finger trail down my
arm. We sat in silence as his fingers repeated the motion. I closed
my eyes; the silence was so relaxing, the breeze blowing calmly
over us. I was starting to get overly tense. Ace grabbed my hand,
squeezing it. I shot up like a bat out of hell, it was too much, my
stomach had butterflies to the point I felt like I had restless leg
syndrome in all my extremities.

“
What is wrong? You scared the
crap out of me. I thought someone was here,” he said, sitting up
himself.

I’d probably ruined the mood. This
guy must think I am crazy, I thought to myself.

“
No, I don’t,” Ace
said.

I turned to look at him in alarm. I
knew I didn’t say that out loud.

“
Huh?”

“
I don’t think you’re crazy. I’m
honestly feeling pretty crazy myself right now. “Goosebumps
literally rose on my arms inside the hooded sweatshirt.

“
Okay, now you’re freaking me
out,” I said, smacking him in the chest.

“
What? Just call me intuitive. For
some reason, I just get you.” He touched my alarmed face. “I’m not
psychic. I just figured that would be what was going on in your
mind.”

I was still speechless. It was a
strange thing. How often had I met anyone who knew what I was
thinking or feeling? That never was something I could say about
anyone I knew, even Nessa.

“
I’m fine. It’s just …..It’s so
crazy, in a good way…I don’t know-“

Ace’s face collided with mine in
the dark. I pulled back, startled, then realized what was going on.
He was trying to kiss me. I brought my face in, finding his lips.
He grabbed the back of my head in his hand, grabbing my hair as he
kissed me.

I felt warm and tingly all over.
It was an amazing thing that was happening, and it was no feeling
like any other kiss I had experienced. I stopped thinking and just
concentrated on his mouth.

We took a breather, he kissed my
cheek, bringing me down to the ground, and started again, running
his hand down the side of my face and softly kissed my lips once,
twice, three times before he stopped, laying next to me. My heart
palpated in my chest, my head throbbing from the moment.

I rolled over to face him, feeling
a little spastic. “What are we doing?” I asked, my head spinning,
my breath barely hanging on.

“
What? I don’t get the question,”
he asked me, turning to face me as well.

The moon showed me just enough of
his face to see a visual reaction.

“
What do you want from me?” I had
to know what this all meant.

One thing I was not was a girl
willing to get strung along and screwed up by a good looking guy. I
didn’t care how cute he was. I cared more about my feelings. I
didn’t need him to make me feel better about myself, it wasn’t a
person I needed.

“
I don’t know, I mean, I like what
I know now. “

“
What is your whole point Ace? I’m
not that girl who takes this stuff as fun and games. If you’re
looking for someone to mess around with, that’s not me,” I said,
sitting up.

His answer wasn’t making me feel
any better about this situation. I didn’t need a parent to tell me
to watch out for guys like him. I had a self-worth that tugged
sharply at my heart all day, every day.

Ace touched my face. I looked down
at the ground away from his concern. He ran his thumb across my
lips.

“
I’m not here with you because I
just want you physically, but I’m not promising you a fairy tale
answer. I don’t know you well enough. I know what I
think.”

“
And what is that?” I knew what I
thought as well, and it seemed rather silly to open up to him so
fast. I knew that it was all silly. Most people would think there
was no way to fall for someone in a matter of a week. It seemed
hard to believe that I felt like he was the one that could
understand all my quirkiness. But at the same time, I didn’t
care.

“
I feel drawn to you, I felt like
that the first day I met you. I don’t have any idea why I feel so
strongly, and, honestly, I didn’t want to. Believe me.”

“
That makes me feel
good.”

“
It’s not that, when feelings get
in the way it clouds my thinking about other stuff, it makes it
hard for me to ….” He trailed off.

There was his mysterious aura
again, his subtle way of saying so much with nothing. I wasn’t
willing to sit under the stars with him and not understand
anymore.

“
No, you tell me what you mean.
You’re going to tell me, and if you don’t tell me, take me
home.”

“
Tell you what? I’m not taking you
home until you tell me what your deal is with me. You seem to think
you know more than I even know about me,” he snapped.

“
I know you’re hiding something,”
I snapped back.

“
Why does it have to be I’m hiding
something?”

“
That’s the way it seems, and in
order for me to feel like we are getting somewhere, I want to know
more than what you’re willing to tell. So, either you tell me, or
take me home,” I said again, pulling his hooded sweatshirt off and
tossing it in his lap.

I stood up and started walking.
Ace followed instantly behind me. He grabbed my hand trying to stop
me.